Musica de Futebol

The history of Brazilian football and the development of the country's musical styles are entwined. The sport is often described as a dance, and with good reason. Domingos da Guia, Brazil's outstanding defender of the 1930s and 1940s, once said 'My elder brother used to tell me: aren't you good at dancing? I was and this helped my football. I swung my hips a lot. That short dribble I invented? I was imitating the miudinho, that type of samba.'

Brazil also invented carnivalesque ways of supporting. In the 1940s Brazilians became the first fans to wear fancy dress at games and football matches are now unthinkable without a soundtrack of Batucada beats. The rhythm, happiness and ingenuity that marks Brazilian football makes it the perfect subject matter for music. Football has inspired almost all the great 20th century popular Brazilian artists including Chico Buarque, Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Elis Regina and Jorge Ben.